My electric dryer shuts off after about 20 minutes of drying

possible blockage in vent if ok bad fan motor or heating element overheating

i don't know. first guess is regular drying cycle makes predetermined heat levels and sensor that shuts off heat and dryer when it decides clothes are dry. 20/40 minute
choices may be fan only unless there is a manual temperature control that you can set eg. off/low/med/high..

sounds like u may have a motor winding going bad will usually run 20-30 minutes then shut off and if u run agin right away it will run 10-15 minutes and shut off agin. run an hour later and u will get 30 minutes or so agin? or u may have bad venting causing an over heating prob

Type Maytag dryer timer problem into YouTube and see if the video comes up, thanks!

oh oh sounds like a bad motor with burned windings? let me guess it shuts down after about 20-30 minutes?

MAY BE BAD MOTOR WITH BAD WINDINGS USUALLY STOPS AFTER 20 MINUTES OF USE? OR HEATING ELEMENT IS OVERHEATING? DUE TO BAD VENTING? THERMAL CUT OFF KEEPS SHUTTING IT DOWN?

did you clean the LINT filter? try vacuuming the lint trap area. wet or damp lint can get built up in the lint trap area. it is good to regularly clean the area as it is a Major fire hazard.

First, The most common part would be the over limit safety, it will be mounted to the element housing. Second, there is a thermal fuse usually a small disk with a little fuse inside. You can find these (with your model no.) at www.Repairclinic.com .Good luck.

Your thremal fuse is getting hot. OR There are overloads attached to the element housing and one of them is getting hot and automatically resetting itself once it is cooled.

dryer will not start